


April Showers, Tattoo Flowers

by PaperGhost



Category: American Dragon: Jake Long, Danny Phantom
Genre: Going dragon, M/M, american phantom, florist danny, florist/tattoo artist au, goin' dragon, maybe three chapters that starts off slow and then devolves into self-indulgent crap, tattoo artist jake, this isn't going to be a long story (even though it's a Long story haha)
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-04-13
Updated: 2017-04-15
Packaged: 2018-10-18 07:52:07
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 6,810
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10612494
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/PaperGhost/pseuds/PaperGhost
Summary: Jake Long is a Tattoo Artist/Magical Guardian living in NYC, forced by the whims of fate to meet a certain ghostly hero.





	1. It Was A Dark and Stormy Night

It was quite a fortunate accident how Jake stumbled across the out-of-the-way flower shop on his way home one evening. It had started out as a sunny april morning when Jake left for work, and it remained so while he was getting one of his tattoos touched up after his shift. It was not until he was heading home that a swathe of clouds appeared out of nowhere and started dumping buckets over the city.

Jake had left his favorite jacket in his locker at the tattoo parlor, not wanting to irritate the fresh needle marks on his arm, or get blood on the fabric. Armed with only a tank top and nothing to protect the gauze on his arm from the rain, Jake ducked into the first building he passed. He only noticed once he was inside that it was a flower shop. Buckets and vases full of colorful arrangements lined the walls, interrupted every now and then by a tree or potted bush. Finally, glimpses of a counter and work benches peeked out from the plants at the end of the room.

It was almost as if Jake had wandered through a portal to a jungle more than a traditional flower shop. Jake had a fleeting thought that perhaps it was run by fairy, or maybe satyrs, but that thought dissipated when he caught a glimpse of the person behind the counter. It was a tall boy, too tall to be a fairy at least. And when he turned to greet Jake it was obvious he definitely was not a satyr, he was too handsome! Jake felt so self-conscious all of a sudden that he almost forgot to listen to what the guy started saying to him.

 

~` * ‘~

 

Danny was having a particularly good day. He opened up shop early in the morning clutching a coffee mug big enough to shove his entire fist into, and managed not to make his usual morning spill. After he watered all the plants that needed to be, and swept all the stray leaves and petals off the floor, Sam walked in.  


This was nothing new; as she was the owner of the store, and several other plant shops in the state. After college, she got a loan from her parents and opened up the first shop. At first Danny just helped out around the shop as a part time job, also working in a coffee shop at the other end of town to pay the bills, but once it became successful enough to open up a second location, she put Danny in charge. The arrangement really could not have been more successful, not only did Danny not have to go running all over town all day, but his stress levels went way down. Before with two jobs and ghost duties he was just about losing his sanity, but there was something about being around nature all day that really just put his mind at ease.  
Now, Sam came in twice a week to see how the shop was keeping up, and to bring in a few new plants she had acquired that week. They participated in idle chit chat for a bit before she had to leave, and Danny went back to work. It was a slow day, and even though it’s bad for business, that’s how Danny liked it.  


While checking over the succulent plants, he suddenly heard fast, pelting rainfall hitting the roof. He briefly thought about how he pitied anyone who got caught in that mess, before the bell above the front door rang. Danny smiled, put the succulent he had been inspecting down, and turned around.  
Standing in the doorway was a short, tatted up guy, wearing only a wet tank top and jeans. Somehow it seemed unfit to call someone with that many tattoos cute, but that was the first word that came to his mind. Maybe it was the way his wet hair stuck to his forehead, or his short stature, or possibly the look of stunned awe on his face. He loved seeing that expression on new customers, Danny worked hard to keep the shop looking like a ‘Magical Forest’ as Tucker put it.  


“Hello, how can I help you today?” Danny asked, practiced.

There was a slight pause as Jake was still taking in his surroundings. He snapped out of it when he realized the man behind the counter was staring at him with expectation. _Right... mouth, words..._  
"Hey man... I, uh, I guess I don't need help right now. I just.. wasn't really planning t'come in here-" He glanced at the worker's name tag, "-Danny, But thanks." 

A flash and a bang cut through the air like a cymbal crash and the rain patters increased to a wild thrum against the building. Jake jumped a little, looking back towards the shop entrance and the maelstrom visible through the front windows. He looked back to the shop keeper, Danny, with a sheepish grin. "April showers, amirite? Would it be totally cool if I could just crash here for a bit?"

“Well what kind of heartless person would I be if I sent you packing in this weather?” Danny joked, he pointed to the wicker chair in front of his desk and said, “Take a seat, I’ll go grab you a towel.”  
Walking to the back of the store Danny silently hoped that this short dude was not secretly riffraff taking advantage of Danny’s good will to rob the store. Call him paranoid, but you’d be surprised how many people try to hold up a flower shop. Danny pushed the thought aside as he brought the guy a bright green towel with yellow daffodil designs.

Jake considered sitting, but it was too tempting to take a closer look around the room while Danny was away. There were so many varieties of plants that it made his head spin, but to be honest it smelled absolutely amazing in there.  
He recognized a few plants from spells and salves his Grandfather had made before, especially around what seemed to be a section of herbal plants. It was a pleasant surprise to him that most of the plants were potted and not cut. From what little he had seen of other flower shops and stalls around New York that offered pre-cut bouquets, this seemed less wasteful. It must take a great amount of care tending to so many living things, Jake had a newfound respect. 

The sound of footsteps alerted Jake to Danny's return before he could even see him through the foliage. When Danny finally did appear, Jake accepted the towel with a quick thanks.  
"This is really an amazing store you have here.." Jake said as he ran the towel through his hair first, restoring it to its usual messy spikes. "It's obvious you like your work.”

"Hmm?" Danny hummed, getting a little distracted by the hilariously messy hair, "Yeah, I really do love working here. Everything is just so calming and full of life. Not to mention if I want some tea I can just pick some leaves over in the herb section." He chuckles, "Honestly if I end up working here for the rest of my life, I would die a happy man."

"Sounds like you're living the dream, man..." Jake grinned at Danny, feeling slightly envious. It must be nice having a quiet life uninterrupted by enemies, or needing to keep the peace between rampaging mythical creatures. But although a quiet life would be tempting, at least Jake's American Dragon duties insured that his life would never be boring.  
"Aw...shit..." Jake muttered. He had started drying off his clothes and torso when he noticed that blood was currently seeping through the gauze wrapped around his fresh tattoo addition.  
"I guess the rain got to it and kept it from clotting," Jake gestured to his arm, "You wouldn't happen to have a first aid kit too, would ya?'

Danny nodded and reached under the counter and pulled out a box, "Yeah, you would not believe the amount of times I get poked by cactus or cut myself on the shears." This was a half lie, Danny did indeed get a few cuts and scrapes from the shop, but he only really put together a first aid kit for the place the third time he ended up there after a ghost encounter.

"Wow, you keep this thing really well stocked," Jake commented, looking through the box overflowing with medical supplies. There must have been at least six rolls of gauze, many different brands of antibacterial cream, and what looked like supplies for stitches.  
Jake chose a brand of antibacterial cream that looked appealing and a roll of gauze, rewrapping his tattoo.

"What can I say, I'm a prepared sort of guy!" Danny chuckled a bit nervously. He watched as the guy expertly redid his bandages, just a little too fast for Danny to make out the image that the ink made. He examined his tattoos in awe, all masterly done and a unique kind of beautiful. "Which one was your first?" Danny asked curiously.

Jake chuckled and twisted his torso to show his left shoulder blade to Danny where the silhouette of a dragon curled in flight.  
"Ah, I got this one as soon as I was legal. My mom gave me one hell of a lecture, but I am still pretty proud of it." Jake grinning at his private joke. It was not that original, he knew, for the American Dragon to get a dragon tattoo... but heck if he cared about that.  
"How about you?" Jake questioned, "How do you get started working here?"

The dragon silhouette was absolutely stunning; the curved but definitive lines were bold and sure. Danny was about to ask why a dragon, but the dude asked him a question first.  
“I had been friends with this rich hippie girl named Sam for years, and when she got her parents to open this shop for her, she asked me if I could help out. About a year later business was going good, so she opened up another shop and put me in charge of this one.” Danny smiled at the memory, Sam threatening him if he dared let a single plant die. He wondered what Tattoo Guy did for a living, also what Tattoo Guy’s actual name was. “My name is Danny Fenton by the way, nice to meet you.” He said, extending his hand out to him.

"Oh, right, I forgot... The name's Jake. Jake Long." Jake held out his hand and took Danny's, giving it a firm handshake. Danny's hand felt cold in Jake's warm one. Everyone's hands felt cooler than Jake's, but Danny's were the coldest yet and it made Jake feel a little self-conscious of his own inner fire. It felt good though, and after the handshake was over, Jake could still feel the coolness lingering on his palm.  
"Working here must make it hard to forget to get your girlfriend flowers, huh?" Jake commented.

Danny literally laughed out loud at that, “Oh man, Sam and I aren’t together. It’s a common misunderstanding, though.” Danny said, “Everyone tried to force us together in High School, but it was never really like that between us, especially when we’re both Bi as fuck. But wouldn’t it get a little old to bring some poor guy or girl flowers back from the shop anyway? They might not appreciate it if it was too often,”

"I don't know-" Jake shrugged, "I've lived in New York all my life. It would be nice coming home to an apartment full of plants. Cities are great and everythin', but I'll take nature where I can get it."  
Jake contemplated a minute more, "Also you have herbs and things for cooking, and you said you can make fresh teas too, yeah? So it wouldn’t hurt to have those around either."  
Jake's grandfather had passed a couple years before, and what had once been their medicinal herb garden fell into disarray. Fu Dog did what he could for the plants, though he lacked the talent for it. But seeing a place like this existing gave Jake some hope. Maybe he could get some help here and figure out how to revive the garden in time.

Danny was glad that Jake did not scrutinize his sexuality, although what was Danny expecting, this was New York after all. He nearly smiled from ear to ear when he heard that he heard the bit about getting nature where he could get it. After a few years of working here, and almost a lifetime friendship with Sam, he had really come to appreciate nature and all its beauty and worth, and was happy whenever he saw that same appreciation in others.  
“Yup, if you want to take a look all of our herbs and spices are over in the corner. Although if you tell me what kinds of food and tea you like I could probably give you some pretty boss recommendations.”

"Ah, I cook a lot of meats I guess, but it would be nice to add more vegetables..." Fu Dog ate most of the food Jake made, but a few more vegetables in Fu’s diet would be good for him. "Also I'm willing to try anything as far as teas go, as stereotypically Asian as that is." Jake chuckled. "I'm a total newbie growing things though, so I guess I should start out with things that are easy to grow."

The rain was dying down almost as fast as it had started, but Jake didn’t notice until a chirp came from his phone. It was a text from Sun Park, his younger sister's mentor, and family friend. 

_Several nymph trees down in Central. Requesting assistance._

Of course, his Guardian duties once again slaying his attempts at a social life. "I'm sorry, man... It looks like I have to run for now. But hey if it's okay with you, could I get a _raincheck_ on those plants?" Jake flashed a winning smile to Danny.

Danny cringed at the pun, but smiled as he said “Aw that was a bad one but yeah, I’ll be looking forward to talking plants again with you some time. It was nice to meet you, Jake.” And he really meant it. Jake was nice, cute, and seemed genuinely interested in learning more about plants and how to grow and use them.

"It was nice meeting you too, Danny." Jake replied, "And thanks for letting me hang. I hope I didn't inconvenience you at all." Jake packed the supplies back into the first aid kit and he handed it over to Danny before he took his leave.

Jake slipped off into the drizzling evening, and into a conveniently located alley nearby where he could transform in peace. In a matter of seconds, he was flying high over New York City to Central Park.

 

~` * ‘~

 

After Jake left his shop that day Danny had been thinking a lot, about tattoos that is. He was thinking it was about time that he got a new one. He only had one thus far, the one he got when he was nineteen, just a small cartoony ghost on his forearm. He did not tell anyone he was going to get it until it was already done, just in case they tried to talk him out of it.  
Sam thought it was sick. Tucker wanted to know if it hurt. Jazz looked like she wanted to go off on a tangent about what tattoos said about his mental state. And his parents were ecstatic at his ‘Commitment to the ghost hunting life’. At 23 he still liked it a lot, and smiled at it whenever he rolled up his sleeve. Although, he was kind of hoping it would look cool in his ghost form, but with the jumpsuit melded to his body he couldn’t see a thing.

When Danny had breaks for the next few days he would look through pictures of tattoos on the internet, hoping to find something that piqued his interest. On the first day he decided he wanted it to be a plant, on the second day he decided he wanted it to be a flower, and on the third he decided he wanted a blood blossom on his bicep. He texted Sam to see if she wanted to go with him the next day to make an appointment, she replied with an enthusiastic hell yes. And so, that is why they were now walking through the door of the friendly neighborhood tattoo parlor and taking a seat in the waiting room next to what must have been the oldest biker gang in history.

 

Jake was taking it easy at work. With his weird American Dragon hours, he only had enough time in the day to cover part time shifts. His family was by no means poor; hundreds of years of dragon treasure made sure of that. But if Jake did not have a job to escape to from his other duties then he would probably go crazy. As it happened, Jake made friends with a tattoo artist that agreed to take him as an apprentice. It was slow work, learning how to sterilize equipment, create designs for people, man the counter, and handle the machinery, but he felt like it was rewarding all in all.

That day, Jake was in charge of the counter. He was going to give his touched-up tattooed arm another couple days of rest even though it was pretty much healed up already. He did not want his co-workers to figure out about his accelerated healing due to his dragon powers. He also left his arm covered, just in case. He was still a novice, anyway. He had done maybe twenty tattoos on living people, tops, and with supervision from his teacher each time. And of course nobody knew enough of his work yet to request him. 

He had left the counter for two minutes while he refilled his mug with jasmine pearl green tea, which he almost spilled all over the phone and paperwork when he returned to find Danny sitting in the lobby with a tall goth chick. Jake almost forgot how to talk for a second in shock, but he resisted the urge to make an undignified retreat, and instead he greeted them.  
“Ah.. Is there something I can help you with?”

“Jake! I can’t believe this, do you work here?” Danny asked excitedly. He felt Sam nudge him in the side, he looked down to see her raising her eyebrows expectantly.  
“Oh, right. Sam this is Jake, the guy I told you about,” He says, gesturing from one to the other, he turns to Jake and makes similar hand movements when he says, “And Jake this is Sam, my friend and owner of the flower shop!”

“Oh, of course... Pleased ‘t meetcha, and kudos on the shop! I’m looking forward to being a frequent customer of yours.” Jake said, “But yeah, I work here. I’m still training, but it’s coming along. Which one of you was interested in getting some ink?”

"That would be this stud." Sam said, all but slapping Danny in the chest with the back of her hand. She raised an eyebrow at Jake in an expression that he was not sure of the meaning.

"Ow," Danny chided, "Anyway yeah, actually after you left the store I started thinking that I wanted another tattoo. What can I say, your pretty inspirational!" He joked, scratching the back of his head.

"Wow, I'm flattered!" Jake rooted through the drawers behind the counter, picking out some pamphlets and a photo album and handing them to Danny. "You said you wanted another tattoo, so I assume you're familiar with how the process goes... Here are pictures of the works artists here have done, and when you decide on which one you would like to do your tattoo then I can set you up to meet and talk about the design and stuff. Okay?"

Danny nodded happily and took the book from Jake; his fingers tingled a bit when they touched his. Jake seemed to radiate this sort of heat that was just so warm and inviting. Danny brushed it off and thanked him, before gesturing for Sam to come with him to the waiting area to look at the styles.

He had barely opened the book before Sam said, “He’s quite a cutie, wouldn’t you say?” 

Danny huffed and felt his cheeks heat up a little from embarrassment.  
“Yeah, I guess.” He says in a nonchalant tone, hoping she would drop it.

“Such a coincidence that he happens to work here.” She commented while pointing at one design with long elegant brush strokes.

“Yup, it really is a small world.”

“And he sure is checking you out pretty seriously right now.” Danny’s head immediately snapped up to the front desk, where he saw Jake’s back turned, working on something. He had been duped. Sighing he looked back down, defeated.

“I hate you.”

“Love you too.”

 

~` * ‘~

 

Jake felt nervous. He had not expected to see Danny again so soon, especially not before he had a chance to work up his self-confidence again. The last thing he would want to do was put his foot in his mouth. Being around Danny made him feel an unexpected sort of frazzled.  
Also, a few of Jake’s designs were the book in with the others. What if Danny wanted Jake to do the tattoo for him? Oh god, what if Danny wanted a tattoo on his butt? Jake had to duck completely behind the counter as he tried to regain his composure.  
_You're the American Dragon, dude, get a hold of yourself! You save the world on a daily basis... You should be able to talk to a hot guy without freaking the heck out!_

Jake stood back up, trying to appear nonchalant as he sipped his jasmine tea and waited for Danny to finish looking at the photos.

After fifteen minutes, Danny decided on whoever made this one amazing rose tattoo. The lines were bold and defined, the flowers themselves were realistic but not overly so, and the whole thing was like a rainbow. All the roses having their own distinct color, but bleeding that color into the next.  
Danny walked up to the desk where Jake was, he put the book down and pointed to the page, "I want this person to do my tattoo."

Jake almost choked on his tea. He had to make a few undignified coughs into his sleeve before he could reply. "That's one of mine, actually. I should warn you though that I'm still in training. Of course if you still wanted me to do one for you then you then you would get compensation."  
Jake ran his fingers through his spiked hair while recalling all the information he needed to pass on. "We would be able to offer you a reduced cost in exchange for your helping me gain more experience. I passed all my other tests, I just need to get through my live tattoo quota before I'm considered an official artist.”

Dannys mouth dropped a little and he looked back down at Sam, who was giving him a sly smile.  
"Oh heck, well that’s a coincidence." Danny looked down at the book, "Regardless, yeah, I would really like you to do my tattoo. Should we, uh, make an appointment?"

Jake "Since you're already here, would you like to just talk about it now? Or is another time better for you?”

“Another time would probably work out better, cause I have to get back to the shop soon.” Danny tried really hard to avoid cringing. Sam was elbowing him behind the counter where Jake couldn’t see, urging him on. He made himself smile instead, “How about we go get lunch and talk about it later, say... Thursday afternoon?”

Jake studied the work schedule behind the counter. _Be cool, be cool…_  
“Yeah, it looks like I’m free. How is twelve-thirty pm?”

“Should be good,” Danny replied.

Sam looked at Jake with her piercing lavender eye contacts and a half smirk, “It’s a date, then.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks to SweetPotato for co-writing this first chapter with me, and for being the writer of 95% of the things in the Going Dragon tag on here!
> 
> I'm not sure how long it'll take me to write more of this because i'm. so. busy.... but we'll see? I really want to include art next time too.
> 
> But thanks for reading to the end, and I hope you liked it! \\('o')/


	2. Muddy Buddies

The next few days went by uneventfully enough for Jake. His work days were spent practicing sketches while manning the counter, and brushing up on his tattooing techniques in his free time. Thursday was his day off, which he took advantage of by visiting his Grandfather’s herb garden in the morning.

Jake moved into his Grandfather’s loft after Lao Shi passed. His mom wanted to keep it in the family, and it helped him still feel close. The garden itself was on the roof of the building, and had a small greenhouse and a spread of overgrown plants in pots and containers. And in a quiet corner there was a small shrine set up for the family ancestors.

Jake carried a cup of hot tea with him as he scaled the stairs and let himself in, which he put on a small platform in front of the shrine. He placed a clementine from his pocket next to the tea, and finally lit a stick of incense with his dragon breath beside that.

“Hey, Lǎo Yé…” Jake said softly while the smoke wafted skyward, “How are you? I’ve been getting by, I guess.” Jake looked around the garden from his place in front of the shrine, but his eyes settled again on his Grandfather’s Ancestral Tablet.

“I’m sorry again that I haven’t been taking care of your garden like I should have, but I think I found someone who can help me. I’ll do better now, Gramps, I promise.”

Jake busied himself cleaning up the garden. He was really at a loss when it came to plants. Other than watering them occasionally, he was not sure what to do when some began dying off.

He was a creature of fire, unused to nurturing plants instead of catching them aflame. But he took pictures of the plants that died, in case Danny would be able to identify them and help him replace them eventually. Then he pulled up the dead plants from their pots and discarded them before replenishing the soil.

The greenhouse itself was a different thing altogether. Jake always kept it locked when he was away, because it was filled with more magical species of plants. Also unlike the outer garden, there were copious amounts of notes Lao Shi left about care. Fu Dog went through the notes, and made laminated cheat sheets for Jake to reference. They were more hardy than regular earth plants too, and seemed to gain nourishment from the magic around the area itself. They needed containment more than anything and that was more Jake’s style. It was good though, because he wasn’t sure what he would have to do to obtain replacements if one of those plants died. 

It was getting close to noon before he knew it, so he washed the dirt off his hands and gathered his drawing supplies before catching the subway to meet Danny.

 

~` * ‘~

 

Danny opted for Jake to meet with him at an outdoor cafe a couple blocks from Central Park. It had a lively atmosphere about it, and it was a popular hangout spot during the refreshing spring weather. Plus their tea lattes were to die for.

He stood outside the cafe terrace for a few minutes, until he caught a flash of Jake’s spiked green hair in the crowd.

 “Yo,” Jake greeted, waving casually.

 “Hey, man!” Danny waved back. He was a little disappointed to see that Jake was wearing a jacket that all but covered his arm tattoos. He wouldn’t have minded a better look at them.

 A waitress seated them at a table at the edge of the veranda, away from the louder bustle of patrons, and left with their drink orders. Jake rummaged through the messenger bag he brought with him and he placed a pencil case and a sketchbook on the table between them.

“So, if you want t' get right into things, how about you tell me a bit about the tattoo you wanted?”

 “Well, I was interested in your work because I was thinking about getting a rose tattoo, actually.” Danny said. “Like a ring of roses encircling my upper arm that aren’t fully blooming yet,”

 Jake nodded and started sketching, “Is there a reason why you want roses? Like is there any symbolism ya’ want me to include?”

 Danny shrugged, “I’m not really sure what the symbolism would be?”

“There’s a few I know of,” Jake prompted. “Like a rose without thorns is a symbol of pure love, or with thorns it means that love comes with sacrifice. Also, th’ amount of thorns has meanings, and the amount of petals… How grown the rose is means different time periods, and th’ colors all mean things too….”

“That’s more comprehensive than I thought,” Danny chuckled and shook his head. “I was just basing it off of a variety of rose I like, that I think is cool. Tell me more about the color meanings though, cause the variety I want is blood red with black thorns and leaves that almost look purple.”

Jake thought about it for a minute, scratching his ear with his pencil. “Well, red roses mean love usually, but can also mean remembrance. Especially because black colored things can symbolize death or farewell. So together, I think a tattoo like that would mean somethin' like…. Death and pain may be inevitable, but there can still be beauty and meaning in it. And if the roses aren’t bloomin’ yet, it could also mean there’s still time to overcome and make the most of things.”

“Wow…That’s kind of exactly what I want now….” Danny said in awe. “I wasn’t going for anything that deep, but, damn….”

Jake laughed, and Danny almost blushed right there. But then the waitress came up with the drinks and took their orders and the moment passed.

Jake’s drink was an aromatic jasmine green tea with blueberry, and Danny had ordered an iced Lady Grey with fresh peaches and honey, and they sipped them in silence while they waited for their sandwiches. Jake was still focused scratching away with the pencil, so Danny got a good look at him over the top of his book.His black hair was spiked to perfection in a lazy sort of tousle and had dyed green tips. Danny was excited to notice that he had a little strip of an undercut at the base of his skull where someone had shaved a pattern in the stubble. So even his hair had a tattoo! 

Danny also noticed some symbols embroidered on the breast pocket of Jake’s jacket. He wasn’t sure what they said, but he recognized it as Chinese. It was rather amusing to Danny that he was an Asian with hint of a New York accent.

It wasn’t until the waitress placed their plates in front of them that Jake showed Danny what he drew so far. It was a sketch of the front, side, and back view of a disembodied arm with a wreath of thorns and rose buds twisted around the bicep. Below the arm drawings was the rose design again in a flowing line that tapered off at the ends.

Danny grinned and looked it over while Jake took a few bites of his food. “This is great, Jake! Like flawless actually… I could stare at this all day.”

Jake’s smile and laugh seemed slightly less cheery this time, like something was distracting him all of a sudden, “Hah, it’s no big deal, man. Roses are kind of my specialty…”

 

 

 

~` * ‘~

 

It was a couple weeks later that Jake visited Danny’s flower shop again. He got a better look at it this time. The storefront had a large paneled window across the front with the words “The Gothic Greenhouse” on it. True to the name, the outside of the store did look quite goth-like, as if witches could come out of the door at any minute, or vampires with flowers for their coffins. It matched that Sam person’s dark aesthetic to a tee. He wouldn’t have thought someone like Danny would belong to this store from the outside, but the inside definitely showed more of his style.

The front door was propped open, letting in the refreshing afternoon air, and Danny was right inside rearranging the plants in the window to give them more sun. He saw Jake outside and waved excitedly.

Jake poked his head inside the front door, waving papers with a bright grin, “Ayyy, I finished the design for you, if ya’ wanna see it!”

“Hell yeah!”

Jake spread the papers on the shop counter. The drawings were cleaned up and inked, and he had included two versions. One had bold, dark lines and was paired with a vivid deep red color for the petals. The second had a slightly more sketched look, with a gentle, almost painted color overflowing from the petal lines like bloodstains.

“Holy shit, Jake!” Danny exclaimed, “How the hell am I supposed to choose?” 

“Well, if ya’ can’t decide you could always get both, my dude... ‘Cause that way we could spend more time together,” Jake laughed, only half joking.

Danny decided to text Sam photos of the designs for her approval, and while they waited for a reply then he seemed to remember, “OH! I have your order ready for you in the back. I was able to get all of the plants you sent me pictures of. It's kind of a lot for one trip, so it looks like you're already going to have to spend more time with me.”

Danny winked at him, and Jake’s heart did a little flutter.

Sam texted back while Danny was bringing two boxes of plants to the front for Jake.  _2nd, definitely. Or else I’ll cut off your arm to make you choose again._ Brutal.

“I think I’m going to have to take her advice,” Danny conceded.

Jake nodded in agreement, “It’ll look amazin’ on you, Danny.” It was hard to tell, but it looked almost like Danny blushed a little at that.

“Um, do you need help carrying these home?” Danny offered.

“I wouldn’t wanna cause ya’ any inconvenience, man... I can handle it.”

“No, I insist. I wouldn’t want you braving the New York mobs on your own… They might make you drop the children!”

Jake laughed at that, but he let Danny close up the shop and follow him to his loft apartment nineteen blocks away, each carrying a box. It was built on top of his Grandfather’s old electronics store, which was boarded up for now. Jake planned to turn it into his own tattoo shop, eventually. Maybe even a tattoo shop for Magical Creatures.

He forgot how strange his apartment must look to outsiders until he saw the look on Danny’s face when he showed him inside.

“God, Jake…” Danny said, looking around the lavish sitting room with its rustic antique wooden furniture, and the large curio cabinet against one wall overflowing with magical objects. “How the heck do you afford this place as a tattoo artist in training!”

“Ah, it actually belongs t’ the family… We’ve been around for generations, I guess...” Jake rubbed the back of his neck with one hand, embarrassed. _Ya’ see, I’m from an ancient line of dragon guardians that owns land in every major city in the USA._

“The garden is over here,” Jake said out loud, and lead Danny through the building to the roof stairwell. The rest of the apartment was less impressive, shedding the antique stylings for the more comfortable discord of a 20-something bachelor.

The roof garden was not as much of a disaster as Jake made it sound. It was growing wild, sure, but Danny could see it just needed some care and guidance. There was also a surprisingly wide variety of plants, including what must have been the hardiest fig tree in the city, which gave him a new respect for Jake’s grandfather.

Jake vanished while Danny was looking around the roof in wonder, but he soon spotted him again crouching in front of a low roofed structure against the far wall. It was filled with polished tablets with Chinese writing on them. There was a wisp of smoke curling up, and as Jake stood and turned back to Danny, he could see that it was from incense sticks that were stuck in a bowl of sand.

“Sorry for intruding,” Danny said, feeling like he interrupted something private.

The corner of Jake’s mouth pulled up in a half-smile and he shook his head dismissively, “It’s fine, man… I’m only half Chinese, born and raised in America. So I’m not even sure if I’m doing anythin’ right. But my Gramps really cared about traditions, so I’m tryin’ to keep it up for his sake, ya’ feel?”

“Yeah,” Danny agreed.

“Anyway, I got some empty flowerbeds over there,” Jake pointed, “And more pots and soil behind the greenhouse, so I’ll start planting I guess. Need me t' show you out?”

“It’s okay for me to help for a little while. Some of the plants need to be grown in full light, or shade, and I probably need to show you how to decipher the info tags.” Danny carried his box to one of the empty garden beds and promptly dug his hands in the soil, feeling the quality of the dirt. “Do you use compost or fertilizer at all?”

“Uh, I think the soil I put in there had fertilizer in it?” Jake gathered a pail of gardening tools and came and sat next to Danny and offered him a trowel.

“And how long ago was that?" Danny asked, accepting the trowel and using it to dig up a few weeds that were sprouting around the edges.

“I dunno, I just got it from a bin of dirt I found behind the greenhouse.”

“Oh! That must have been your Grandfather’s compost bin,” Danny said. “Plants need to get nutrients from the soil as well as water and sunlight, so compost helps with that. You just put vegetable scraps and organic matter in the bin whenever you have it, and they become food for your plants.”

“Ah, I didn’t know that. I’ll try to remember to do that now,” Jake said, copying Danny by pulling out weeds in a neighboring bed.

A couple hours flew by unnoticed as Danny gave Jake a crash course in Gardening 101. Between them they managed to re-pot all of the new plants, and Danny even showed Jake how to prune back the more overgrown plants and place the clippings in the compost bin. It was messy work, but the garden looked almost back to its old self when they finally finished.

They ended up in Jake’s kitchen, covered in dirt and collapsed in kitchen chairs while the sun set between the city buildings.

“Do you want to stay for dinner?” Jake asked. “I have beers, and I’m a decent cook.”

 _He’s thoughtful,_ and _can cook? I think I’m in love…._

“Nah, it’s okay,” Is what actually came out of Danny’s mouth instead of his thoughts, “I should probably get home and shower… I’m sure I reek now. But I’ll take a raincheck on that!”

Jake walked with Danny back to the ground floor entrance.  “Sweet! I hope you enjoy the rest of your evenin’ then, and I’ll see you on sunday for your first session?”

“You got it!” Danny fist-bumped Jake before walking away in the afterglow.

Jake watched him a few moments before closing the door and sliding down to sit on the floor behind it. He ran his fingers through his hair, the gel coming undone between all the sweating and dirt, and he sighed. He must really be falling for this guy if he tried to get him to stay for dinner. He wasn’t sure what exactly what he had expected would happen if Danny stayed after all, but he was pretty sure it was unprofessional to get caught up with a client. Especially if he was going to be stabbing him with actual literal needles for hours in the future.

_Nah, I have to be cool. I don’t have time for casual relationships right now, anyways._

Spring was a particularly busy season for magical creatures. Many of them had new young ones, and tensions could be high between the over-protective mothers. At least Haley was seventeen now, and much more reliable as a magical protector than he had been at her age. She really saved his ass, especially during the overwhelming transition to full-duties after Lao Shi passed.

No, now wasn’t the time for a relationship.

 

   

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I lied. I've really been feeling like writing recently, so I went ahead an finished the next chapter. It's turning out to be more of a slow pacing than I planned, but I love slice-of-life settings actually??
> 
> There was no co-writing this chapter. Thanks for the support! ;u;


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